


sparks fly

by leop1ka



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Firelord Zuko, Fluff, M/M, Modern AU, Social Media AU, Swearing, They're soulmates, Zuko has long hair, a bit angtsy, aged up! zukka, brief mention of lin beifong, chairman sokka, this is completely self-indulgent, toph and sokka are besties i said what i said, toph is a mom, zukka brainrot, zukka's love language is words of affirmation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-13 23:21:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29161827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leop1ka/pseuds/leop1ka
Summary: After Sokka and Zuko's relationship almost gets revealed to the public, the couple decide to make a surprising reveal and twitter may or may not be invovled.
Relationships: Sokka & Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 188





	sparks fly

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rowdy_Simp](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rowdy_Simp/gifts).



> everytime i write a fic i want to write something which john mulaney will approve of, and I think this is it

**SPARKS FLY** : Sorry, ladies! Southern Water Tribe representative, chairman of the United Republic Council, and popular social media influencer, Sokka, spotted with a mysterious figure by his side in Republic City! Has the 26-year-old finally found his match? 

**ROYALTY ALERT** : Firelord Zuko on a date?!

 **SUMMER ROMANCE** : Ambassador Sokka and Firelord Zuko in Ba Sing Se? A business meeting or a steamy date?

Sokka sighed, rubbing his temples, the annoying brightness of the computer illuminating his sharp features. The press had always loved getting into his personal life and affairs, and Sokka would have been lying if he said he didn't feel the urge to throw a huge middle finger whenever he saw a camera noisily taking pictures of him while he was doing his daily activities, but he put up with it - being in the spotlight was a big part of his job as both a social media superstar, as Katara and Toph liked to say, along with being an incredibly influential figure in the United Republic, so he eventually got used to it. Despite that, seeing the way his 5-year long relationship with Zuko, the fucking Firelord and as Sokka had pleasantly learned when they first started dating - an excellent tea maker, almost get revealed to the public made his stomach turn into knots. As he anxiously scrolled through the article, he was elated to find that the pictures were so dark that you could barely make out it was Sokka there, let alone Zuko. It seemed that somebody up there had taken pity on the absolute chaotic bisexual Sokka was and he couldn't have been more grateful. Still, his hands shook as he closed the article, letting out a quiet " _fuck_ " under his breath. He needed to contact Zuko immediately and inform him that they will never have an outdoor date again, out of fear of the extraordinary scandal that would erupt if their relationship somehow got revealed. 

It was their last date before Zuko's return to the Fire Nation, and it was supposed to be romantic and idyllic. And it was at the time, but it left a bitter taste in Sokka's mouth that somebody had purposefully interrupted and trampled over what Sokka and Zuko tried so hard to hide and cherish at the same time. He hated that feeling - the sour, ugly feeling of a stranger turning something meaningful into meaningless, intimate into something that just about anybody could see and talk about. His relationship wasn't meant to be the talk of the town and he'd be damned if he would let some dumb paparazzi turn it that way. Even if the pictures were blurry and dark, it created a painful sensation in Sokka's mind - what if they weren't blurry? What would he do then?

Before he could think about it any further though, his phone loudly rang in his quiet office. Sokka grabbed it and immediately wanted to cut his balls off and run away to live in the mountains when he saw Toph's name on the screen, phone vibrating in his sweaty palm. As much as he loved and cherished the chief of police, she was Satan incarnated when she got angry, and Sokka had a suspicion that was her current state. He answered the phone and silently prayed for the health of his eardrums after the call.

"Hey, Toph, buddy! A wonderful day isn't it? How are you-"

"I saw it, you dumb fuck."

Sokka gulped. He wanted to tease Toph that she can't actually have _seen_ it, but he bit his tongue, not wanting to get into even more shit.

"Saw what?" He asked instead, biting his nails nervously, a habit that Katara scolded him for having since they were children. He still did it though, but what Katara didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

"I saw the articles, Snoozles. Sparks fly? Summer romance? Once upon a dream? Seriously?"

Oh. _Oh_.

Sokka scratched the back of his head, looking down at his feet in shame.

"I know, I know. But, hey, the pictures were so dark that you could barely make out it was me and Zuko! Nobody's gonna buy it." The councilman tried defending himself. He knew it was true. If people actually thought it was him and Zuko holding hands in those pictures, his social media notifications would be going through the roof. They currently weren't and he took that as a good sign.

"Look," Toph started, sighing, and Sokka truly knew he had fucked up. The earthbender had said that word only a handful of times throughout their years of companionship and each time she said it, she had been completely and utterly disappointed to the point where she didn't have the energy to yell or make a witty remark.

Sokka closed his eyes. Today was a _really_ bad day.

"Lin's pestering me right now, so I'm just gonna give it to you straight. I don't care about pointless rumors, Sokka, but if you make the same mistake again, it would cost not only your reputation but Zuko's as well. The only thing - _Lin, get off the damn counter!_ \- that saved you from getting your ass handed to you was the fact that it was dark outside and the photographer was an amateur. If anything like this happens again...well I'm sure you understand the consequences. And if you guys do decide to reveal it, I'm also fine with that. It's your decision. Just be fucking careful, 'kay?"

Sokka's nail broke underneath his teeth.

"Yeah. Yeah, I know. Thanks, Toph."

Toph hummed in response.

"Good! _LIN BEIFONG, YOU HAVE THREE SECONDS TO GET OFF THE KITCHEN COUNTER OR ELSE!_ My God, this fucking kid. Talk to you later Snoozles, check up on Sparky." Toph said and ended the call.

It took a few moments for Toph's words to sink in, as Sokka sat in his office chair, blankly staring at his phone screen. If Toph, the person with the most " _I don't give a single fuck about absolutely anything_ " attitude Sokka had ever met (King Bumi being a close second), had cared about Sokka's relationship enough to call him, then this really was as bad as Sokka had feared. Fuck. Why did he have to hide his relationship like this?

He groaned noisily and texted Zuko.

 **Sokka** : hey bby

 **Sokka** : did you see the pictures?

Sokka worried that if Zuko hadn't, in fact, seen the pictures or read the articles, he'd just make him needlessly worried and distracted from his duties, not like Sokka himself didn't have them, but it was a Saturday and Sokka preferred lazying around all day rather than reading long documents about Ba Sing Se's economic hardships. Surprisingly, his boyfriend replied immediately.

 **Zuko** : Yeah.

 **Zuko** : I think it would be better if we spoke to each other about this, rather than text.

 **Zuko** : Can I call you?

The non-bender's heartbeat quickened once again. What if Zuko suggested they should take a break? Or worse, Zuko wanted to break up with him? He had every right to, breaking up with Sokka and avoiding the scandal of the century seemed like the obvious choice to every reasonable person. Whatever it was, Sokka would face it. He had to. He texted back and tried to ignore the heaviness in his chest.

 **Sokka** : sure

The screen lit up with another call and Sokka answered it immediately, clutching his fists like he was about to receive the worst news in his life. He certainly hoped that wasn't the case.

"Hey, sweetheart. You okay?" Sokka talked and he could picture Zuko's worried expression as he sat in front of his desk, hands rubbing the sides of his neck, long silky black hair falling over his shoulders. Sokka wished he was there to envelop the Firelord in his arms and tell him that everything would be okay, that they've faced things much worse than this. His body ached for it, his mind ached for it, his heart ached for it. It all ached for Zuko.

He heard the firebender let out a shaky breath.

"Yeah, I am. Thank you for asking. It's only a couple of articles from a bunch of clickbait websites and yet..." Zuko trailed off.

Sokka nodded sympathetically and forcefully stopped himself from straight-up asking his boyfriend if he was going to break up with him or not.

"I get it. We've never had something like this happen, so it's okay to be...y'know, upset. But at least the pictures are very blurry so... that's that. Toph just called me actually." Sokka tried brightening up the mood.

He heard shuffling on the other end.

"Oh?" Zuko asked, playful curiosity in his voice. God, Sokka loved Zuko's voice so much. It was commanding and loud, perfect for a leader, but also gentle and delicate, an emotional vulnerability and sheer childlike innocence laced in it that was only meant for Sokka's ears and Sokka's ears only.

"Yeah!" Sokka laughed. "She basically told me to get my shit together, but it wasn't very intimidating since she was yelling at Lin at the same time."

Zuko let out a surprised laugh, a mixture of a snort and a chuckle. Sokka blushed like a lovesick teenager at the sound. He was still perplexed by the fact they've been dating for 5 years and he still found himself giggling and blushing like the girls in his tribe. Nevertheless, he thought that was a good thing. His Gran Gran had always said that love makes you behave in unusual ways, after all.

"Don't be too hard on her, raising a child is hard." Zuko said.

"You say that like you have children! Or are you hiding something from me, sweetheart?" Sokka teased him and he could picture the way the Firelord was dramatically rolling his eyes.

"Oh, shut it! You're already the biggest man-child I've ever met, I know how to deal with children at this point." Zuko bit back and Sokka whistled.

"Woah, woah! Excuse _you_ , I am _NOT_ a man-child!"

"That's the biggest lie I've ever heard and you know it, Sokka." Zuko replied bluntly.

Sokka gasped melodramatically.

"No, it's not! This is a lie! You're a plain old liar, Zuko! My own boyfriend turning against me...Oh help me God, how shall I survive?" The councilman waved his hands in the air, letting out a fake cry.

"This was a bad idea." Zuko scoffed affectionately. "I'm hanging up. Goodbye."

"NO! Don't you dare!" Sokka broke his theatrical act.

Zuko let out a quiet chuckle.

"You proved my point." He said, and Sokka slightly smiled at how soft he was being. "But you _did_ make me feel better. Thank you, Sokka."

Sokka grinned.

"Of course! I'll always be here for you, sweetheart."

"I know." Zuko replied. "I actually have a...proposition for you."

Sokka raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? You gonna ask me to marry you or something?" Sokka teased, but if he was being honest if Zuko asked to marry him right then and there, he would have said yes.

"Oh, shut up! What I'm trying to say is that, well, it has been brought to my attention that maybe...maybe revealing our relationship might not be as bad as everybody makes it out to be. I just, I'm tired of hiding this, Sokka, hiding us. I'm so fucking _tired_. We...we aren't happy like this. A relationship can't truly flourish if it's being suffocated like this."

Sokka blinked. Well, he certainly didn't expect that.

"Oh. _Oh_ , sweetheart. That's..." Sokka wanted to say that was the best idea he had ever heard, because it was honestly was. He'd spent so much time and effort, shed sweat and tears, to hide his relationship, that at times he couldn't help but think it'd be better if he just...said it. Told the world how hopelessly in love he was with the Firelord of the Fire nation. Would that truly be so bad? He had become so paranoid, and what happened with Zuko and the paparazzi in Ba Sing Se was living proof of that. The hopeless romantic part of him, the boyish and innocent side, the side that fell in love hard and fast, wanted to scream his love for Zuko at the top of the highest building in the world, so everybody could hear. Fuck whoever was against them. It didn't matter how many people turned on them, as long as he had Zuko by his side. But the councilman side, the ambitious and intelligent side wanted to play it safe. Why risk getting attacked by hundreds of people when you can simply shut up and not do anything? Sokka respected that side, but he didn't necessarily like it. Sokka felt Toph's warning suddenly vanish when Zuko said that. Sokka felt his own fears and insecurities vanish. In a brilliant moment of self-realization, Sokka knew Zuko was right. Completely right.

It seemed like Sokka was silent for too long, because Zuko frantically started talking.

"Sorry, forget I ever said that. It was dumb of me to even bring it up. I'm sor-"

"I'm up for it if you are."

It was Zuko's turn to blink.

"What?"

"You heard me. If you wanna do it, then I'm doing it. Fuck everybody else. Let's do this."

Sokka smiled. He was sure he had never felt so perfectly, fantastically, absolutely happy in his life.

\---

That same evening, Sokka answered a question for his upcoming Q&A.

@ **rowdy_simp** : If you could tell somebody a pick-up line, what would it be?

**REPLIES**

replying to @ _rowdy_simp_ :

@ **captainboomerang** : great question! this one has always been my favorite - "hey girl, are you a waterbender? cause I feel some bloodbending in my pants." @ _firelordzuko_ what do ya think ;)

replying to @ _captainboomerang_ :

@ **firelordzuko** : I'm afraid I'm not a waterbender darling, but I am aware I have that effect on you.

replying to @ _firelordzuko_ :

@ **melonlord** : BOTH OF YOU ANSWER YOUR FUCKING PHONES N O W

replying to @ _firelordzuko_ :

@ **avataraang** : Finally! I'm very happy for you two.

replying to @ _firelordzuko_ :

@ **kyoshi4ever** : HELIOHWEQOHIWWQJFK WHY ARE YOU GUYS LIKE THISSSSSSS

replying to @ _firelordzuko_ :

@ **sugarqueen** : i-

Needless to say, Instagram and Twitter stopped working for 3 hours.

**Author's Note:**

> zukka brainrot


End file.
